My mother 朱劉珍子 Jean Liu Chu, aka 朱夫人 Madame Chu, was the wife of career diplomat 朱晉康 Tsing-kang Chu. She was also a fan of opera. Admittedly she had zero musical knowledge or training. She couldn’t sing to save her life.

But lo and behold, she could instantly tell you with complete accuracy which singer was belting and which singer was using correct Bel Canto opera technique.

She attended every one of my recitals with Maestro Ren’s voice class. She encouraged my fellow students, and lavished them with sincere praise.

I can only surmise that is why my fellow students have come forth unbidden, to express their heartfelt sympathy over her recent passing on April 30, 2015.

I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all you have said and done in her memory.

Even though she was 89, and about to turn 90 next week, her death came as a genuine shock.

Why?

Because although she had a stent installed this afternoon at 2pm, the operation itself was successful. Her colour was good, and her mind was alert. The surgeon even thought she could check out of the hospital the next morning. We began happily making plans for the next fun event.

So what happened?

What happened was the incision in her thigh where they inserted the catheter was hurting her, so she asked for a painkiller. The nurses gave her an intravenous injection of “Tramtor”.

Not long afterwards she began to feel fidgety. She couldn’t remain still. She began shaking, sweating, and experiencing dry heaves. She complained of nausea, saying “I feel like throwing up”. I notified the nurses, who in turn notified the doctors. They said she was probably having an allergic reaction, but that it would pass. They put her on monitors and hovered over her.

Suddenly however, her heart stopped. They revived her with CPR. Her heart stopped again. They revived her with CPR again. Her heart stopped a total of three or four times in all. They eventually resorted to paddles to shock her back to life, and moved her to a CCU.

Shortly afterwards they came out gave us the bad news. Her heart was being pumped with a machine. It was no longer working on its own. Her brain had probably been deprived of oxygen for too long. Even assuming she could be revived, she would probably never regain her mental faculties.

I signed a DNR form, and told them to turn off the machine and let her go.

I’m going to have to take care of the hospital bills tomorrow morning, and the funeral arrangements tomorrow afternoon.